Summer vacation is a great time to get your home organized for the upcoming school year. I like to tackle projects around the house, and getting my kids’ clothes set for the next size and season is always one of them.
It can be really overwhelming to decide what to do with your kids’ clothes when they outgrow them. And if you don’t do anything, the drawers and closets become one organize mess where you can’t find anything at all. So I’m sharing some tips to help alleviate that stress and help you decide what works best for you and your family.
1. To donate or keep?
Ask yourself the following questions:
- Do I currently have other children who will wear these clothes?
- Do I plan to have other children who might wear these clothes?
- Is this item of sentimental value to me?
- Are these clothes in good condition?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, then you likely want to keep them instead of donate. Obviously, don’t donate something that has a ton of holes or stains in it, but there are organizations (like the Chicago Chesed Fund) that do take items with holes, tears or only one sock and they sell the fabric for money for the organization.
I typically keep clothing items that are monogrammed or have a very special memory attached to them. I’ll tell you how I store them in a bit.
If you answered no to multiple questions, then it’s time to donate. I promise, it feels really good to pass down clothing to a friend or give you an organization that helps families who really need it.
2. What do I do with the clothes I keep?
Now you have a couple of options. Some people like to use large, gallon size ziplock bags or the large vacuum seal bags because they can get really small once decompressed. This way is effective because more can fit in one space. The downfall is that you can’t access any of the clothing once vacuum sealed. So this is a good option if you know that you aren’t going to use the clothes again for a longer period of time.
I prefer to use Sterilite storage bins (pictured below). The 66 qt ones are my personal favorite. They’re very easily stackable, and you can fit a lot in each one. After donating, I go through what’s left (again) to make sure I’m really only keeping exactly what I need.
First, I separate the clothes by size and gender, and then store them folded in the Sterilite bins. I label the bins on the top AND on the side that is facing out, in case I need to access some clothes at any given time. The downfall to this method is that it does take up a fair amount of space. So you do need to have an area that is completely devoted to it. An attic is a great space or the corner of a basement. I wouldn’t recommend leaving clothes in a garage or outdoor shed, if you can help it.
Here are some of the steps that I took when organizing my clothes.
I hope some of my ideas are helpful to you when you’re getting organized. How do you store and organize your kids’ clothes? I’d love to share ideas! xo
Leave a Reply